The Everyday Kitchen
A blog about food, healthy eating, seasonal ingredients and how to eat well in a busy life.
Food advice for a busy life 
Posts with Tag: vegetables
| 21 May 2013 ,09:02 Eating seasonally: better for your health & your pocket | |
Earlier in the week I wrote about produce which was out of
season and a long way from home. Here's why I believe eating sesonally is better
for you - better tasting, better for your health and better
value Eating seasonally tastes betterTo be transported over a greater distance or sold out of
season, fruit and vegetables have to be picked before they are mature. Harvested unripe
and unready, the produce is then stored under specific conditions which arrest its
development. During this time in storage most immature fruit and vegetables won't improve
in flavour or sweetness; the substances that give fruit and vegetables their flavour and
aroma are fragile and easily lost.  In contrast, in season fruit and vegetables tastes better. Picked close to home and eaten at their peak readyness, fruit and vegetables have had time to develop flavour, texture and sweetness. You're getting the produce at its best. Eating seasonally is better for youIn long-distance transport and long-term storage it's not
just flavour that is lost, the nutrients degrade as well. By the time something is
picked, packed, transported to market, sold to a retailer, stored at their shop, sold to
you and then stored at your house, an average of 8 - 10 days has passed. For less
perishable produce like apples, grapes, pears and pumpkins, this harvest-to-plate time
can expand out to months or even a year. During this journey water soluble
nutrients like vitamins C and the B group, along with certain antioxidants, degrade and
lose their potency. Plus, eating seasonally ensures you eat a variety of foods which means you get as many different nutrients as possible. For example, we don’t need antioxidants in large quantities, however getting a wide range of these important substances is a good idea. Antioxidants come in many different forms and are found in a range of foods. One of the best ways of ensuring your diet includes the variety and quantity you need is to consume a variety of fruit and vegetables. If you pick what's in season the shorter the time from harvest to your dinner, plus you're guaranteeing variety. Asparagus, potatoes, cauliflower and zucchini are not always going to be available. Sometimes you may have to choose eggplant, sweet potato, capsicum and snowpeas, because that's what is in season. By choosing in-season produce you're ensuring the vegetables and... Read More... |
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Share it| 21 May 2013 ,07:34 Out of season and a long way from home | |
Asparagus from Mexico, garlic from China, grapes and cherries from the US, all
have been available in my local supermarket over the last twelve months. Pears and apples
remain in-store all year round, well past their winter prime. Along with citrus and
melons it seems some produce never goes
out-of-season.  Despite this seemingly unchanging supply, fruit and vegetables do actually have seasons. They only grow at certain times of the year, and under certain conditions. Some vegetables love the winter, they thrive in the cold weather and need a bit of frost to sweeten their leaves. While others seek out warmth; the sun's full rays to ripen, bring on colour and flavour. For this constant, unchanging range of produce to be always available there are going to be times during the year when it hasn't come from your local area, probably not even grown in your country. At some point during the year the produce is either from overseas; or it's been picked immature and stored for many months; or it's been grown in a greenhouse, under artificially enhanced conditions. If you're a consumer seeking the best value, taste and nutritional benefit, these three growing and storing conditions are a problem. Moreover if you're also concerned about the environmental impact of what you eat, then out of season produce is something to avoid. For me there is nothing better than eating fresh, local and in season produce. While mangoes and lychees are my absolute favourite fruits, I don't want to eat them all year round. How boring. Instead by choosing what's in season my eating naturally changes over the year. Much more interesting. |
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| 18 May 2013 ,15:43 Saturday Links | |
Great piece from Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan about we
ight loss and exercise on the Huffington
Post. Gorgeous looking Persian Eggplant recipe on
the Fig and Quince blog - "grilled eggplant, garlic, tomato and egg dish
which melts in your mouth, as you scoop it in with fresh Persian bread". Sounds good
to me. Rachel Eats has cooked a beautiful tomato
dish to go with pasta which "involves the saving grace of many-a-mediocre
tomato: a flesh shriveling, flavour intensifying roast". Tomatoes are paired with
anchovies, garlic and topped with breadcrumbs and rosemary. I
love that Wendy from A Wee Bit of Cooking gives two different dressing
options for her Shredd
ed Beetroot and Carrot Salad. You can choose between the kick of mustard or the zing
of ginger. On Twitter Elaine directed me to this practical, clever and idea-packed article on how to plant a personal
garden in even the smallest of urban
spaces. .jpg) |
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| 04 May 2013 ,16:31 Saturday Links | |
Some links for you - this week's list of the best recipes, articles and information
about healthy eating I've found on the web.
Firstly, I love this video showing exactly what happy free range egg laying chickens look like <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pgBXFwxuHwc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This piece on 19 signs you've been vegan too long did make me laugh. Thanks to @lisadempster for pointing me to it. I've had a hankering for hot chocolate this week, so I looked around for a healthier version. I ended up making this spicy, vanilla scented hot chocolate from Teresa Cutter. I made mine with a spoonful of vanilla syrup and it was delicious. Richly flavoured and not too sweet. While it's autumn where I live, we're still getting zucchinis in our regular veg box. I'm a bit zucchini-ed out at the moment and am bored with all my normal ways of cooking them. In the nick of time I spotted this recipe for polenta crumbed zucchini on Where's the Beef. I particularly like the hazelnuts and paprika in the crumb mixture. One of the most difficult parts of weight loss is managing expectations and staying motivated over the long term. While many people are looking for dramatic and drastic weight loss, even relatively small changes can lead to big health improvements. There's a great article on The Conversation on this very topic. |
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| May 26, 2013, 8:47 am Brown rice vs white rice: which is healthier? Most people automatically assume brown rice is better for you than white rice. It's true that brown rice has many benefits.Read More... |
| May 23, 2013, 7:29 am Saturday Links Here are the best recipes, articles and information, all about healthy eating, I've spotted this week. Delicious legumes: Over at the New York Times, Mark Bittman asks Read More... |
| May 21, 2013, 9:02 am Eating seasonally: better for your health & your pocket Earlier in the week I wrote about produce which was Read More... |
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